Stanley Cup finals or bust

Expectations deserve to be high for Hawks

October 06, 2011|Dan McNeil

I'm giddy over hockey season's arrival. It's the most entertaining game to go see live.

The United Center should be a buzzing, happy place — a place where optimism is both genuine and warranted. It's not asking too much of the Blackhawks to request their participation in the Stanley Cup finals. In fact, anything short of it would be a disappointment.

That's where I'm setting the bar for Joel Quenneville's Hawks, who lift the lid on the 2011-12 season Friday evening in Dallas. Why such a steep demand?

•Duncan Keith will have a bounce-back season. The 2010 Norris Trophy winner shouldered more blame than anybody for the Hawks' descent to the Western Conference's 8th seed last season.

Nobody will benefit more from the extended time off in the summer than Keith, whose production dipped precipitously. Keith scored 7 goals with 38 assists and was a minus-1 last year. I expect his numbers to rival those he had during the Hawks' championship season, when he scored 14 goals with 55 assists and was a plus-21.

•General manager Stan Bowman has upgraded the Chicago blue line enormously with the additions of veterans Sean O'Donnell and Steve Montador. O'Donnell, who turns 40 next week, will give himself up for the puck, a healthy habit consistently employed only by Niklas Hjalmarsson a year ago. Montador, 31, also is a gritty player who was a plus-16 last season with Buffalo.

Those additions should lighten the load on Keith, who logged too many minutes early last season, and Brent Seabrook. They also should have a steadying effect on 20-year-old Nick Leddy, who had a promising training camp.

•Corey Crawford is the undeniable No.1 goaltender. For the first time since the Hawks returned to the playoffs three years ago, there is no uncertainty about who's the man in net.

Crawford, 26, went 33-18-6 last year with a 2.30 GAA, eighth best in the league. When he needs a rest or doesn't have it, Quenneville will defer to newcomer Ray Emery, 29, who helped Ottawa advance to the finals in 2007, or Alexander Salak, who will begin the year in Rockford.

•Bowman made the Hawks a better defensive team up front with the acquisitions of Andrew Brunette, 38, Daniel Carcillo, 26, and Jamal Mayers, 36. That trio adds a ton of experience and toughness. The Hawks lacked both a year ago.

•Bryan Bickell is going to play more like a guy who's 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds. Quenneville has put Bickell on notice, and the big man is responding.

•Perhaps I should mention that Jonathan Toews remains the captain and driving force of this club. And that Marian Hossa is healthy. And that Patrick Kane seems revitalized after wrist surgery and taking a shot at playing center.

•Patrick Sharp, who led the team with 34 goals and 12 power-play goals last year, has recovered quickly from an emergency appendectomy on Sept. 12. Sharp will play on the wing on a line centered by Toews on Friday night against the Stars. Quenneville has rewarded the preseason effort of 18-year-old Brandon Saad by placing him on that No.1 line.

•As much as anything, I think the Blackhawks will play with an edge because their pride was injured last year. None will admit publicly that they began last season hungover from their success and sudden celebrity, but they know there were players who took their foot off the gas, who behaved like children of entitlement.

The Cup champs of 2010 didn't handle their achievements responsibly. They subsequently were embarrassed by scrambling for the final playoff spot and then getting punched out in the first round by eventual Western Conference champion Vancouver.

The Hawks have something to prove. They have enough talent to win it all again.

That's all that's acceptable. It's nice there's one team in town that sets the standard that high.

Special contributor Dan McNeil co-hosts "The McNeil and Spiegel Show" weekdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on WSCR-AM 670.